Notices and Agreements

What is Amazon Studios?

Amazon Studios is developing feature films and episodic series in a new way, one that's open to great ideas from creators—and audiences—around the world. There are two distinctive characteristics of our process:

We have an open door for creators.
There are a lot of great ideas in Hollywood, but not everyone can be there or get their work into the right hands. Amazon Studios is open to ideas from around the world. We are proud to have recognized talented writers and filmmakers in the US, Canada, the UK, China, Zimbabwe, the Dominican Republic and other countries. Great ideas are out there.

We invite the audience in early.
Amazon Studios seeks feedback about projects and ideas, even in their earliest stages. And to reach the most people, we try to shape stories into a form that is short, or visual, or both. We will test premises, storyboards, posters, videos, test movies, pilots, promos, and other formats to see what people think. Scripts are critically important in development, but they are just not accessible to most audiences.

What is the "Development Slate" at Amazon Studios?

Our goal at Amazon Studios is to make theatrical motion pictures and episodic series from great stories. The Development Slate is a roster of promising projects we're actively developing to make into a movie or series. (See our current Development Slate for movies and series). The Amazon Studios development staff determines the projects to add to the Development Slate.

We have paid the creator of these projects for an option or for the rights to their material, and our development staff may work with the original writer to develop the script. For most projects, we will also test various interpretations of the material with Amazon movie and TV customers. Based on the results, we will determine which projects to move forward.

Can I submit work to Amazon Studios if I’m not a professional writer or filmmaker?

Yes. Amazon Studios has an open-door submission policy, which means we’re looking for great stories from writers and filmmakers of all experience levels. If you have a bold, original story to tell, we’d love to take a look.

If we want to option your property, even if you’re not a Writer’s Guild of America member, we will propose an agreement with terms that meet or exceed applicable WGA minimums.

Can I submit work to Amazon Studios if I'm a member of the WGA?

Yes. Amazon Studios no longer takes a free option on submitted work, so if you are a WGA member, you are now welcome to submit your original material through our online submission process. Make sure you’re comfortable agreeing to our Submission Agreement, which gives us the right to store and evaluate your submission.

What kind of submissions is Amazon Studios looking to develop into Amazon Original Movies?

Amazon Studios is looking for the next great movie idea. We work with visionary storytellers to produce bold, original movies that could become somebody’s favorite film of the year.

How do I submit a movie idea to Amazon Studios?

You can submit a movie idea to Amazon Studios in one of two forms: upload an original full-length screenplay, or upload a 2- to 15-minute video. This will create a project; you can add revised scripts or additional content to your project at any time.

Whether you start a project with a script or a video, it must be wholly new to Amazon Studios and free of any elements from scripts and videos already at Amazon Studios. We call these original properties.

What kind of submissions is Amazon Studios looking to develop into Amazon Original Series?

Amazon Studios creates original drama, comedy, and kids series. We’re looking for compelling new voices, characters that you can't find anywhere else, and shows that have the potential to become hits. Specifically, we're seeking primetime drama and comedy series for adults, as well as series for children between the ages of 2-14. We are not looking for sketch, reality or talk shows at this time.

We’re looking for comedies that are smart, original, funny, character-driven, and have well-defined worlds – like Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, and Catastrophe. For live-action, we prefer shows with some level of serialization. All scripts should be within the normal television standards for content and language.

Children's series can be live action, animated, stop motion or mixed media. We are interested in preschool series for children ages 2-5 like Wishenpoof, Tumble Leaf, and Creative Galaxy. Preschool series must have an educational theme or clear potential for one. We are also interested in ideas for children and tweens between the ages of 6-14, like Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street.

How do I submit my series idea to Amazon Studios?

You can submit a series idea to Amazon Studios by uploading a pilot script and/or mini-bible, depending on the type of series you’re pitching. This will create a project; you can add revised scripts or additional content to your project at any time.

For primetime drama or comedy, you must submit a pilot script that shows the series at its best. Your pilot script does not necessarily have to be an origin story that describes how the situation of the show began.

For children's series, you must submit a mini-bible of between two and six pages explaining your vision for the series. A great mini-bible describes the main characters and the show in general; illuminates the world in which the series takes place; tells where the show is going and whether episodes are serial or standalone; and includes five or six episode ideas. If you have a script (11 minutes or 22 minutes) you are encouraged to upload that as well, but it is not required.

Project creators must have full rights to any series ideas they submit.

How do you decide which pilots become Amazon Original Series?

Where can I see Amazon Original Series?

Are my submissions to Amazon Studios private?

Yes; all new projects submitted to Amazon Studios are private by default, which means that only Amazon Studios staff can view them. You can change the visibility of your project at any time by visiting your project page and clicking the “Make project public” or “Make project private” button under the project title. If we enter into an option agreement with you, we may also make your project public in order to get feedback from movie or series fans.

Can I change the visibility of my project?

Yes, you can make your public project private or vice versa. Once you’ve submitted it for consideration, though, Amazon retains the rights you granted when submitting it (for example, the right to evaluate it and make you an offer to add it to our Development Slate).

How do I submit works I created with a partner or partners?

When you submit content (like a script, concept video, or series idea) that you created with a partner or partners, you affirm that you have their permission to submit it for evaluation. If Amazon Studios were to extend an offer to option or purchase your submission, we would ask you to identify any co-creators at that time.

Do I have to pay to participate?

No. There is no charge to participate at Amazon Studios.

Can I revise my work?

Yes. Script drafts or video revisions don't replace each other; they just exist simultaneously on the site. This is not like a screenplay competition or film festival, where you submit your work once and then you're done. We believe that feedback and revisions can make your project better, and encourage you to revise your work as much as you want. Significant revisions will be considered again for the Development Slate.

How long will Amazon take to evaluate my submission?

We aim to evaluate your submission within about 90 days, though it may take longer depending on the volume of submissions in our evaluation queue. When we finish evaluating your submission, you will receive a notification either that we wish to extend you an option offer on your project, or that we are passing on your project at this time.

If Amazon Studios produces my series, what role will I have in the production?

That depends on your skills and experience, and the type of project. In any event, we would have to agree on the terms of the agreement in order to option your material, including any agreement for services.

What is Evaluation Tracker?

We appreciate the opportunity to consider all the work submitted to Amazon Studios, and each submission goes through an evaluation process. Evaluation Tracker shows the status of certain types of submissions as they go through this process.

What do the steps in Evaluation Tracker mean?

ReceivedThis means we got your submission.

QueuedThis means that your submission is in our queue for evaluation.

EvaluatingThis means that someone on our team is currently evaluating your submission. This could be one of our experienced, trained analysts; a development executive; or even our studio head.

DecidingThis means we're deciding if we want to option your project and add it to our Development Slate.

CompleteThis means that we've completed our evaluation of your submission, and you will receive a notification from Amazon Studios within 48 hours with either an agreement to option your property or a pass.

I love movies and TV, but I'm not a screenwriter or filmmaker. Can I be a part of what Amazon Studios is doing?

Yes. Feedback is crucial to the Amazon Studios process. We hope you will rate videos, watch pilots, write reviews and make comments in the project forums. Your insights are valuable and influence the movies and series we create.

What rights do I give Amazon by submitting my project?

The Amazon Studios Submission Agreement is a contract that governs your and Amazon Studios' rights to the works you submit. If you want to submit a script or video to Amazon Studios, you'll want to make sure you read and understand it first. If you are comfortable with it, agree to it. If you're not comfortable with it or if you're not sure you understand it, we would not want you to agree to it.

In summary:
By submitting your work, you give Amazon Studios the right to evaluate it, and share it privately with our team of professional readers to help us evaluate it.

If you choose to make your work public, you give Amazon Studios the right to evaluate it as above, and also to make it available publicly on the Amazon Studios site until you choose to make it private or remove it from the site.

This summary is intended to be helpful but not intended to replace reading the Submission Agreement. To read the full Submission Agreement, please visit this help page.

If Amazon makes me an offer to add my project to the Development Slate, am I obligated to take it?

No, you are not obligated to enter into any agreement to option your property.

Can Amazon Studios help me get an agent/manager?

Not directly, but success at Amazon Studios has helped talented writers and filmmakers get the attention of the Hollywood community.

What can I do to protect my rights under copyright in my original script or video?

Uploading your original script or video to Amazon Studios gives you a dated public record of your expression of an idea. You can also register your script with the Writer's Guild of America and your original script or video content with the U.S. Copyright Office.

What should I do if someone has copied my work?

If you contribute an original script, video, or series idea to Amazon Studios and you see that someone has directly copied it (by copying text verbatim or lifting footage) and contributed it as an original script, video, or series idea on Amazon Studios, or used it in another project, please let us know (by clicking "Contact us" on the bottom of most pages) and we'll determine appropriate action. However, Amazon Studios is an open development platform and it's inevitable that there will be similarities between scripts, series ideas and video content. You should not report mere similarities.

If you believe that a project on Amazon Studios has copied your work from outside of Amazon Studios in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact Amazon Studio's copyright agent as specified in the Conditions of Use.

Can I "mash-up" pieces from multiple projects, like an interesting character from one and a specific plot element from another?

No. As intriguing as mash-ups may be, the rights issues just become too complicated for us to accommodate at Amazon Studios at this time. Whatever you add to a project should include only elements already in that specific project, plus your own original contributions.

Can I or should I upload a script, video, or series idea that is not in English?

The common language for the Amazon Studios development staff is English. So unless your script, video, or series idea has English description and dialogue (or the text for English subtitles to non-English dialogue) throughout, it will not be evaluated for the Development Slate. To learn more about submitting work to Amazon Studios, please read our Submission Guidelines.

I've entered my work in a contest. Can I submit it to Amazon Studios? And can I enter my work into contests and festivals after I've submitted it to Amazon Studios?

Yes, Amazon Studios will accept work that has been in festivals and contests as long as you still retain 100% of the rights in your work. We can't speak to anyone's contest rules, but from our point of view you can enter your original work into festivals or contests after you submit it to Amazon Studios so long as you do not give up any rights that conflict with the rights you grant to us under the Submission Agreement. For instance, by submitting your work to Amazon Studios for consideration, you give us the right to read and evaluate your work. If a contest requires you to exclusively offer someone else the right to evaluate that work, you may not enter that contest.

Can I put the video I've submitted to Amazon Studios on other websites?

Yes. Since the Amazon Studios evaluation process is non-exclusive, you are welcome to distribute your work elsewhere while we are considering it.

How can I be involved if I am under 18?

Some laws do not allow minors to sign binding agreements, and to make movies and series we need binding agreements. Therefore, at this time, minors unfortunately cannot create accounts at Amazon Studios, which means they cannot submit projects, write reviews or participate in discussion forums.